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Keith and I are picking up to move to Pécs, Hungary for one year. He has never been to Europe and the furthest east I've been is Switzerland.... Our Hungarian language skills are...well, we know some phrases. Come follow us on our adventure!!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Croatia

Similar to Hungary, everyone has controlled Croatia...including the Hungarians. A brief history of the land's inhabitants and rulers.

9th Century-11th Century: King Tomaislav, King Petar Kresimir IV and King Zvonimir create the powerful Croatian state

1091: The last Croatian king dies childless...King Ladislav I of Hungary claims the Croatian throne.

1526: The Hungro-Croatian kingdom is torn into parts by the Ottoman Turks and parts of Croatia becomes under Habsburg rule while the rest is under the Ottoman Empire

1848: Revolution breaks out through the Habsburg Empire. The Croats hold elections to a national assembly and appoint Count Josip Jelacic as their Viceroy. The count helps the Austrian Habsburgs defeat the Hungarians, but the Croatian loyalty is not rewarded with extra autonomy.

1918: Th Habsburg Empire is on the losing side of World War One and begins to fragment. The Slovenes an Croats declare independence and form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes...which was later renamed Yugoslavia

1945: Croatia becomes a republic within the communist-controlledYugoslavia

1971: Zagreb is at the center of the "Croatian Spring" a movement promoting greater cultural freedom and political autonomy. Tito's communist regime crushes the movement, causing a decade of political stagnation.

1990: Croatia holds its first free elections. The statue of 19th century Josip Jelacic, taken down by the communists in 1945, is returned to Zagreb

1991-1995: Serbian insurgents supported by the Yugoslav army take over 30% of Croatia's territory. Zagreb is only 30km from the front line.

1995: Croatian military victory brings the war to a close

This is the rapid overview of the Croatia's history--it is much more violent and controversial...but I feel that these dates highlight the very basic idea of its history.